Freshen up online resume with original keywords

"Innovative" is a bit tired, try entrepreneurial, insightful or enterprising

Online profiles and resumes show a clear pattern of overused employment buzzwords, and while at first these words might sound professional, they do little to set you apart, life coach Phyllis Reardon says.

Photograph by: Handout
, Vancouver Sun

If you are looking for work, using an online resume can be a good idea, but use it wisely.

Online profiles and resumes show a clear pattern of overused employment buzzwords, and while at first these words might sound professional, they do little to set you apart, life coach Phyllis Reardon says.

Canadian and U.S. job hunters highlight their "extensive experience," while most of Europe hopes to be seen as "innovative," South Americans want to be seen as "dynamic," as do folks in Spain and India, while the Brits stand alone in their desire to appear "motivated," according to a LinkedIn study of the most overused words and phrases in member profiles.

"Most Canadians are using the same 10 words in their profiles, and their profile on LinkedIn is playing the role of the modern resume," Reardon said. "While those words are okay in themselves, they can appear a little bit tired. If I was coaching a client, I would say use words which are more descriptive of your working behaviour."

An online resume can reach millions of people, but using it successfully requires savvy.

LinkedIn alone has 85 million members. "Hundreds, if not thousands, of other professionals have those words in their profile, so if you're including them in the hope they will make you stand out, it isn't going to work, said Krista Canfield, LinkedIn's senior PR manager for the Americas.

It's important to use keywords in your summary and descriptions of positions you've held, Canfield said.

An employer looking for an accountant is more likely searching for certain types of accountants rather than a "dynamic" accountant, Canfield said. And someone seeking a corporate tax accountant won't find you if your profile doesn't include the words "corporate" and "tax," she said.

Make sure you're connected to at least 50 people, Canfield said.

"That's the magic number where people start having more of those network effects, first-, second-and third-degree connections," she said. "The starting point could be co-workers, clients, professors if you're a new professional, college classmates, family members - primarily people you know and trust who are vested in your career."

Canfield tells the story of older, established airlines advertising their "low-cost airfare" online when faced with competition from younger airlines such as Virgin, Southwest and JetBlue.

"But no one was searching for that," she said. "They were searching for 'cheap tickets.'"

Put two lenses on your profile, Canfield said. Look at the industry terms you may be proficient at, and then flip to the terms your clients are using.

If you were in sales, you might want to talk about the size of your deals and how frequently you hit your quota, she said.

While some believe employers will search words like "dynamic" in a resume or profile, Reardon said job hunters are better off using words that best describe their behaviour.

Thinkabout how unique you are, Reardon said. "There's no one else like you in the world. Think about what makes you.

"Write a list of the words that describe you and sometimes some of those tired words just may spill out on the page. Let them stay there. Then find synonyms that are more lively that better suit you."

In place of "dynamic," are you adaptable, persuasive, flexible, proactive, enthusiastic? Instead of listing words, describe your behaviours at work, Reardon said. Write up some of your work tasks. Alternatives to "innovative" include entrepreneurial, imaginative, enterprising, open-minded or insightful.

One good exercise is to search your job by title and take a look at your competition.

More and more people are using social media to find work. "Research has shown time and time again people procure work more easily through contacts than an employment office. Work has changed and people seeking work must change," Reardon said.

"Networking is the key to success in work. It's a key to success in life and LinkedIn offers the ultimate in networking," said Reardon, noting that she is not paid by LinkedIn.

"Any employer can go right into your name and they have all that information that [at] one time would probably [have been] sitting in somebody's file cabinet."

Reardon sets aside time in the morning and afternoon to blog and post in life-coaching groups. She used to go to conferences to make contacts, but now that is less important to her. "At LinkedIn and the groups I'm in, it's like going into a big conference centre, and every single morning I have access to some of the best minds in the world."

Small-business professionals are among LinkedIn's most active users, Canfield said.

"More than 65 per cent of Fortune 100 companies use LinkedIn's hiring solutions to find talent," she said.

Online profiles and resumes show a clear pattern of overused employment buzzwords, and while at first these words might sound professional, they do little to set you apart, life coach Phyllis Reardon says.

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